


feels like we got unfinished business

by Tat_Tat



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Older Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28681884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tat_Tat/pseuds/Tat_Tat
Summary: He thought she’d tell him what she was up to. He expected her to spin a story to get him to do her work for her, now that she was incapacitated. He sat next to her, silent, waiting but no words came.So he brought it up. It unnerved him that she wasn’t acting like herself, because it meant she had changed without him there.Leon runs into Ada one last time.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Ada Wong
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	feels like we got unfinished business

Ada was prone on the ground, still completely conscious. Leon could see she was fighting back the pain and didn't want to show it in her face. Self-defense mechanisms, even in the face of (probably her only) friend. That’s what they were, right? Friends? Leon never was sure, only of his feelings for her. That was the only constant when it came to Ada.

She looked surprised to see him. To be fair he hadn’t expected to see her either, though he hoped, but not like this.

They were both pretty old to be in their line of work. It was risky to be in the field anymore, frustrating. They used to see each other fairly frequently (‘frequent’ being once a year or every few years) on the job, but now they were more likely to see a video clip of each other than in person. They were considered a handicap on the field, but not expendable compared to the rookies that were sent out in their stead. These days their work was behind the scenes: tactics, information, and just age-old wisdom.

“What are you doing here?” Leon asked. It hurt to kneel down and bend his knees like that, but he did it without a second thought. He missed the concern for him in her eyes as he checked her pulse, for bruising, and broken bones. Falling down was no joke for people their age, the reason why they didn’t work in the field anymore. There was deep bruising and he suspected she had broken her leg. He was skittish about moving her. It was risky to stay out here in the open, but he was worried about something shifting further out of place and causing further complications.

“You should go,” Ada said, not answering his question.

“I’m staying with you.”

She didn’t argue with him after that. It was almost like a formality, the exchange they had just gone through. She’d get hurt and he’d say she wasn’t getting rid of him that easily...

“Just like old times.” She smiled. “There’s someone on their way to collect me.” 

Leon noted how she avoided the word, ‘rescue.’ No one rescued Ada Wong. What Ada Wong did was grudgingly accept help.

“How long?” he asked.

“Too long if you ask me.” She held back a hiss.

Leon moved from kneeling to a sitting position. It was a little easier on his knees, though he dreaded getting up. That’d be a problem for future Leon.

It was quiet where they were, though no less dangerous, if they were found. The last time they had had a quiet moment like this they were in the elevator, descending down to the heart of Umbrella Corporation: N.E.S.T. That was around the time they had first met, when Leon’s knees didn’t give out and a mere fall couldn’t take out Ada. Sometimes, when he was alone and missed her, he could close his eyes and remember how it felt when she rested her hand on his leg and kissed him.

She was here now. He held her hand. After years of wasting time playing cat and mouse, after years of holding back, knowing what it’d do if he touched her, _really_ touched her, not just have sex with her, he held her hand. He didn’t expect her to squeeze back. He thought maybe she had faintly done so, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe it, even though she was like him, she was tired too.

He thought she’d tell him what she was up to. He expected her to spin a story to get him to do her work for her, now that she was incapacitated. He sat next to her, silent, waiting but no words came.

So he brought it up. It unnerved him that she wasn’t acting like herself, because it meant she had changed without him there.

“Aren’t you going to tell me what got you into this mess?”

“That’s…" She paused, carefully tucking away the pain in her voice before she could continue. “...classified.”

“Never stopped you before,” Leon said, maybe a little bitter. “Or am I not useful to you anymore?” Definitely bitter. He started to wonder who the lucky young rookie was that she had wrapped around her finger this time.

“Oh come on.” She rolled her eyes. “there’s no one else.”

“You know I waited for you.” There was an edge to his voice, dulled and worn with fatigue. 

“I’m not responsible for your feelings,” she said flatly, and then, quiet, less guarded. “I know.”

“Then why?”

“You know why.”

“I know people. We could have offered you protection.”

The silenced lengthened.

“You don’t get to be angry at me when you’re the one who was engaged.”

Leon stiffened. “You knew about that?” The color slowly came back to his face with the realization. Ada didn’t bother to confirm it. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she had been keeping tabs on him, maybe even spying on him herself. He wanted to be angry at her for invading his privacy, but he wasn’t. He was angry for something else entirely: a life that could have been lived.

“I had to break off the engagement once I caught myself wishing it was you. It was easy enough to date her and she was a nice woman, good for me-- not like you. But she wasn’t you. Tell me, Ada. Did you ever get a little bit jealous watching me date other women?”

“All the time,” she said.

“Not like you’d ever let me know that.”

“Not at the time. But you know, Leon, I never envied the life those women wanted to have with you.”

“Safe doesn’t have to mean ‘boring.’”

“Or did you break off your engagement once you realized anyone that close to you could become a target?”

Leon knit his brows; she was trying to change the subject. Fine, he’d let her. Arguing would probably only aggravate her injuries.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” She was softening, only a little. It was tiring to fight to stay alive and argue. She decided she could only do one of those things at a time. Maybe a few years ago she could have managed. She wondered how she had had the energy. And then she started to wonder if it had been worth it. That was the infuriating thing about Leon. For a moment he could make her start to reconsider her choices, to imagine a life with a home, a consistent address and someone always there to warm the other side of the bed.

“It was hard, but I did what was right for us at the time.”

“And what about now?” His hand had never left hers, even through the fights. “Who else is going to be there for you the rest of your life? I can’t understand why you didn’t let us have a life together sooner, but I can forgive you for it if you let me be there for the rest of it.”

She smiled, and moved to reach for his face but winced and gave up. “You’d forgive me even if I didn’t take your offer. If the tables were turned, I would be the one who wouldn’t be able to forgive you.”

“We can’t keep doing this. We’re getting too old. I mean, look at you, even you have to admit it.”

“I’ve been through better,” she agreed. “They told me to sit this one out, but I don’t listen. So what makes you think I’m going to listen to you, rookie?”

The nickname took him back. It emboldened him. Maybe that was why she said it, a jab, a gesture to make him convince her.

“Because you like uncertainty, and what’s more dangerous than letting yourself be vulnerable and allowing yourself to be safe?"

She smirked, but said nothing else for the remainder of their time together, only that she already knew his phone number when he tried to offer it to her.

Not long after, there was the sound of footsteps and her commlink buzzed. Her people had located her. “You should go.”

“You’ll think about it, right?”

“We’ll see.”

He expected that answer, but not the look on her face. It was only for a moment, but then it was gone, her mask up just in time for the rescue team.

He left before he was seen, and just like always, after he’d seen her, he wished they had a little more time together. He hoped he’d see her again soon.


End file.
